Attaching wall cabinets to metal studs

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Old 03-01-2010, 12:15 AM
NJblue NJblue is offline
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Default Attaching wall cabinets to metal studs

We recently had cabinets installed in our laundry room. The professional who did this attached them directly to the metal studs and they seem to be holding up fine.

Now I want to do a DIY project by installing cabinets in the garage. While I am comfortable with the notion that the metal studs will hold the cabinets up, I'm not sure if I need to use any special screws. When I was talking with one of the other contractors (one we did not end up using) about the laundry room job he said you can't use the regular self-tapping sheetrock screws on metal studs. He said they use a special kind of screw for metal studs. Has anyone done this (attached wall cabinets to metal studs) and if so, what kind of screws did you use? If they are special, where did you buy them? Thanks.
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Old 03-01-2010, 01:15 AM
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someone here should be able to help, if not, i always go to ACE hardware in Southern Trace shopping center and they seem to have all the answers...gn
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Old 03-01-2010, 09:38 AM
Zass38 Zass38 is offline
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Personally, I do not trust the metal studs to support any large weight in hanging cabinets. The studs used by The Villages builders are not commercial grade.

Thus, what i have done is to place a 1 x 4 board under the cabinet to support the shear (downward) load of cabinets. I use 3/16" butterfly bolts to attach this support board, plus a commercial grade contractor glue. This now provides a shelf which supports the vertical load.

I then, attach the cabinets in the top reinforced section of the cabinet to the drywall, using 3/16" butterfly bolts, with a large washer to support the vertical pull of the cabinet, which is usually minimal.

The net result is an installation that will support large loads and give a lifetime of service.
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Old 03-06-2010, 07:10 PM
hunt9791 hunt9791 is offline
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Default Metal stud attach

The reply from Zass38 is very adequate. What I did was locate the metal studs with my stud finder. Then I used a small diameter drill [1/16 inch] in my hand with a hammer and located the stud exactly by driving the drill the through the sheet rock until I knew the exact vertical location. Mark the center and using the same drill put a pilot hole in metal stud. I used regular dry wall screws right through that hole and it worked very well. Also the board on the bottom for vertical load is essential.
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Old 03-08-2010, 12:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hunt9791 View Post
Mark the center and using the same drill put a pilot hole in metal stud. I used regular dry wall screws right through that hole and it worked very well. Also the board on the bottom for vertical load is essential.
The tip to use a pilot hole is a good one. I'm not sure about the horizontal board, however. If I understand what you are saying correctly, that would mean that there would be an exposed piece of wood running the entire length of the cabinet run. It seems that this would be pretty unsightly - or am I just not understanding correctly? I wonder about its necessity since the cabinets that the pros put up in my laundry room do not have this and these are very large cabinets and are holding up just fine with just screws into the studs.
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Old 03-10-2010, 11:08 AM
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You can screw cabinets to steel studs with no problem. There are special screws that have a short drill like tip on them to drill thru the stud. They are still sheetrock screws but you can use any self tapping screw that looks like the sheetrock screws.
It is a good idea to use a construction glue like "Liquid Nails" on the back of the cabinet to help hold it on the wall.
Make sure that when you screw the cabinet to the wall that you are in fact screwing to a stud, that you pre-drill a hole in the cabinet so the screw can turn freely in the cabinet, and if you are using a cordless drill or power drill to put the screws in be careful because on steel studs you can over tighten them and strip the hole out and then the screw will be holding nothing.
You will be amazed of the holding power of 4 screws in a 30" wide cabinet.
If it is 3' wide you can get screws in 3 studs. depending on where you choose to put the cabinets.
Also make sure if you are drilling into the wall that you don't hit an electrical wire. If there is an outlet on that stud then there is a wire running down that stud, in most cases.
Hope this helps.
P.S. Get a friend to help hold the cabinet in place so you don't end up wearing it or killing your back.
EB
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Old 03-10-2010, 07:01 PM
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I asked my husband the engineer about this one. He said
If you use Ikea cabs they mount on a metal rail. (attached to the wall with the afore-mentioned correct screws) The load is then spread across the width of the span instead of a point load at the screw location. If you will load the cabs with really heavy stuff and boxes on the top etc. the placing of a support below as mentioned is a great idea.

Hope this helps
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Old 03-10-2010, 09:50 PM
notsoonenough notsoonenough is offline
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That is true. The construction glue does the same thing by spreading the load across the rear of the cabinet. The rail system still hangs from the same screws and uses only two screws in the rail, depending on how many studs you can spread it over.
EB
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Old 03-15-2010, 10:46 AM
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notsoonenough,

Great information. Thanks!
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Old 01-21-2012, 06:54 AM
PaPaLarry PaPaLarry is offline
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Try Cabinet screws. Drill smaller hole first in metal stud, then screw. Best way, is to install, 4" wall plank to wall, and then screw in cabinet. Just cut ends shorter, so plank doesn't show when done
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Old 01-21-2012, 06:56 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJblue View Post
The tip to use a pilot hole is a good one. I'm not sure about the horizontal board, however. If I understand what you are saying correctly, that would mean that there would be an exposed piece of wood running the entire length of the cabinet run. It seems that this would be pretty unsightly - or am I just not understanding correctly? I wonder about its necessity since the cabinets that the pros put up in my laundry room do not have this and these are very large cabinets and are holding up just fine with just screws into the studs.
All you have to do is take 2 inches off each end and wood will not show
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Old 01-21-2012, 10:11 AM
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would this be the same procedure to wall mount a TV? And do any of you have a person to recommend wall mounting a TV?
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Old 01-26-2012, 12:27 PM
JLHart JLHart is offline
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Depending on the model of your home, part of the garage wall studs are actually wood. The walls that ARE NOT common (to interior partition walls) in my Patio Home are wood stud construction. It is easy to determine using a finishing nail .... you can feel the nail bite into wood and it will just bounce on metal.

Regardless, using 2 - 3 #12 x 2" self tapping screws along each metal stud is more than adequate to hang cabinets. I suggest using hex head screws and a hex driver in a drill / screw gun.
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Old 01-26-2012, 08:18 PM
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Default Attaching cabinets to sheet metal studs

NJBLUE, It sounds like you have been answered with a lot of good sugestions. Re: The statment the contractor made about the special screws. The screws I have seen used on sheet metal studs has a finer thread pitch than a regular sheet rock screw. The two screws look alike but they have a different thread pitch. The sheet metal version has finer threads that gives more bite. The sheet rock screw has a coarser thread for holding in wood.
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Old 02-08-2012, 04:09 PM
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Toggle bolts are great but if the butterfly is bigger then the width of stud, it can't completely open, if studs have ends on them. I predrilled thru the wall and stud with a smaller drill bit then the screw itself. Then I used cabinet screws, 3" long, and screwed into stud, and it had plenty of grip plus hold. You can also hang plywood, (3to4inches smaller then width and heighth of cabinet, and then screw cabinet into plywood. Whatever you do, don't buy PRESSED board cabinets. definetly not worth it for strength. I had pressed board with bottles of boos and viniger etc, and it pulled off wall from weight, even though the attached back part stayed in place. I learned my lesson.
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